


Burnt Child

by UnproblematicMe



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Community: Good Omens Fic Writers Workshop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28881156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnproblematicMe/pseuds/UnproblematicMe
Summary: Crowley knows a thing or two about fire.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 55
Collections: GOFWW Guess the Author Round 1





	Burnt Child

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt “Burn”  
> For a game of Guess the Author

They say a burnt child dreads the fire.

Crowley can’t confirm this.

For him there was always fire. His very existence, as it is now, began in fire. One doubtful thought, one question, one objection too many, and nothing he was mattered anymore. All of a sudden there were hot scorching flames, burning away his wings – and his Divinity.

Eternal fire blazes in the eyes of his brethren, flames of their pain and their wrath licking at their souls. What little there is left of what they were, before there was fire, slowly burns away. And they revel in this inferno, welcome the very thing that turns them into what they were never made to be.

Crowley’s own fiery rage has his blood boiling when he remembers the injustice of his punishment. That’s why he is eager to take the first assignment. A dark satisfaction grips him when he sows the first seeds of disobedience in sweet naïve Eve and watches her reach for the apple. There are no real flames this time, but still it feels like setting Eden alight and it feels good.

On the same day Crowley meets an angel. The angel carries a different kind of fire. Not his sword, this is of the same fire Crowley knows. The angel gave it to the humans anyway.

No, there is a fire, innate to the angel. It’s not scorching and destructive like the fires Crowley is familiar with. The angel, Aziraphale, is different. His fire is warm, protective, giving not taking.

Crowley doesn’t know why, but he is drawn to this fire. Aziraphale becomes the torch in the night that is Crowley’s existence. Bright, encouraging, chasing away the shadows.

But Aziraphale confuses him. The angel will beckon Crowley closer and then push him away, will lure him in and then run from him. They will enjoy wine and song together like old friends and get into a huge fight only moments later. It is painful. Sometimes. When Crowley gets too close, goes too fast, this warm fire of kindness and love knows how to burn. And when it does, it hurts more than all the fires of Hell.

Somehow Aziraphale burns closer to Crowley’s heart than all the fires Crowley knows. Thus his flames give warmth, safety and light when the fire crackles peacefully on a good day, but will be all the more damaging in rougher times when it jumps over.

And Crowley?

He will lick his wounds and then come back, willing to get burnt again for warmth and comfort.

A burnt child dreads the fire, they say.

Crowley can’t confirm this.


End file.
